Published online May 1, 2006
PEDIATRICS Vol. 117 No. 5 May 2006, pp. S369-S374 (doi:10.1542/peds.2006-0099F)
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SUPPLEMENT ARTICLE

Practicing Neonatology in a Blackout: The University Hospital NICU in the Midst of Hurricane Katrina: Caring for Children Without Power or Water

Brian M. Barkemeyer, MD, FAAP

Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana

Key Words: Hurricane Katrina • neonatal intensive care unit • NICU

Abbreviations: CHNO, Children's Hospital of New Orleans • IV, intravenous

The first 300 words of the full text of this article appear below.

August 26: 3 Days Before Landfall: Like most Friday afternoons, our 12-person neonatology group went through the weekend sign-out process of patients divided among the 9 area hospitals for which we provide NICU coverage. I was assigned to University Hospital for the weekend. University Hospital is a state-run public hospital in downtown New Orleans, Louisiana, that serves primarily indigent patients as part of the campus of the old Charity Hospital. It has a level 3 NICU and is a full-service teaching hospital for the medical schools at Louisiana State University and Tulane University. I was aware of Hurricane Katrina, then a category 1 storm in south Florida, and all indications were that the storm was targeting the coast of the Florida panhandle.

By evening, as the storm's predicted path had dramatically changed westward, I began to review our available on-call neonatologists and plan for hospital coverage in the event that this new prediction held true. I also began to make plans for the evacuation of my wife and 5 children but hoped, as had been the case in recent years with other hurricanes, that Katrina would steer clear of New Orleans.


   AUGUST 27: 2 DAYS BEFORE LANDFALL
 
As the predictions for the storm passing over or near New Orleans remained consistent, plans for covering each of our hospitals with an in-house neonatologist for the duration of the hurricane threat were finalized. Dating back to at least Hurricane Andrew in 1992, our division had gone through this process multiple times. Although several hurricanes during this time threatened to hit New Orleans, our city had managed to avoid any direct hit. Despite many doomsday scenarios, New Orleans had not experienced a direct hit since Hurricane Betsy in September 1965. In recent years, there were increasing efforts to evacuate the city with such threats. Hospital evacuation had been discussed, . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Address correspondence to Brian M. Barkemeyer, MD, FAAP, Children’s Hospital NICU, 200 Henry Clay Ave, New Orleans, LA 70118. E-mail: bbarke@lsuhsc.edu